The Amateur (1981)

A researcher for the CIA who convinces his superiors to send him to the eastern bloc in order to avenge the murder of his wife by enemy agents discovers a web of deception underneath his ... See full summary »

Director:

Charles Jarrott

Writers:

Robert Littell (novel), Robert Littell (screenplay),

Stars:

John Savage, Christopher Plummer, Marthe Keller

10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Savage	...	Charles Heller
Christopher Plummer	...	Professor Lakos
Marthe Keller	...	Elisabeth
Arthur Hill	...	Brewer
Nicholas Campbell	...	Schraeger
George Coe	...	Rutledge
John Marley	...	Molton
Jan Rubes	...	Kaplan
Ed Lauter	...	Anderson
Miguel Fernandes	...	Botaro
Jan Tríska	...	Rodzenko
Graham Jarvis	...	Porter
Jacques Godin	...	Argus
Chapelle Jaffe	...	Gretchen
Lynne Griffin	...	Sarah

Storyline

A researcher for the CIA who convinces his superiors to send him to the eastern bloc in order to avenge the murder of his wife by enemy agents discovers a web of deception underneath his wife's death.

---

Plot Keywords:

murder | corruption | fiancee | photographer | hostage | 

---

Taglines:

At 29, Charles Heller was a mathematician without equal. At the CIA, he was a computer expert without peer. But when terrorists murdered the most important woman in his life, he became an assassin without experience. To avenge her death, the CIA trained him, briefed him, armed him, and then...they abandoned him. The first 11 minutes will absolutely shock you. The last 11 minutes will rivet you to your seat.

---

Genres:

Crime | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'homme de Prague

Filming Locations:

Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 10,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Balkan Productions, Tiberius Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the final cinema films of actor John Marley.

---

Quotes

Kaplan: I lost my first wife, my first family. Two beautiful little girls. In the war, in the camps. I thought for a long time the loss would kill me but, I survived.
Charles Heller: How?
Kaplan: By creating a ritual to keep me alive. To survive the death of people close to you, you need a ritual. A ritual for revenge is what I made. I thought about it and planned it every waking moment. When I got out I spent three years tracking down the doctor who sent them to the camps.
Charles Heller: Did you fing him?
Kaplan: I found him, yes.
Charles Heller: What did... what...
[...]

User Reviews

Good Czechs? Check! Bad Czechs? Check!

I have never been to the Czech Republic yet, but I hope that some day I will make it. This movie will certainly not influence my decision – but Czechs might like to watch it. Will they recognize their own country? I doubt it.

Basically this is a vigilante movie. Some terrorists (not oriental Muslims for once but German home grown nut cases) storm the American consulate in Munich, take all people hostage and ask for the release of some of their comrades. Otherwise they will kill a hostage every, say, half hour. For good measure they kill a young woman right after formulating their demands. As fate would have it, it's the fiancée of a CIA ciphers specialist who decides that he wants to go after the killers (who got away) and kill them in turn, cost it what it may.

The terrorist's area for occasional relaxation and training sessions is the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia. So our hero has to go there and forces his employer to help him. Once there he discovers that they don't like him at the CIA and are after his hide. But among bad to brutish Czechs he finds good Czechs who will gladly risk their lives so that he can fulfill his (perfectly understandable) dreams of revenge.

Very often this movie is outright ridiculous. But there are a few very good and excellently filmed scenes. The highlight for me is the young yet very bald terrorist who takes a swim in a luxurious old Czech hotel, all on his own, only to get blown up by our hero with the help of plastics taped to the glass pane which separates the pool from the bar. The acting is so so but Christopher Plummer is simply brilliant as the sophisticated bad Czech. There seem to be no limits for this wonderful actor, he really is extremely versatile. The Czech outdoor scenes were partly filmed in Vienna, there are also a few great shots of 19th century Munich.